Medicare for All (In the US)

[WritersPanic]

Aside from the medical care I was able to get in the military and as a veteran, I don't have much exposure to "free" healthcare. Since I was usually employed, I paid for health insurance and got the same crappy policy as my coworkers.

If I wasn't married, I'd have no health insurance right now because I am no longer employed. So I would have to go back to the VA, wait in the long lines and pray they call me before the end of the day. If not, I'd have to return the next day and wait again. Since I'm a category C veteran (I was not injured and there wasn't a war happening) I'm at the back of the bus.

The people ahead of me are either veterans with service-connected disabilities (they are treated like gold) or the retired officers (I was enlisted, so I'll be at the back of the line for the rest of my life). Thankfully I get to ride on my wife's insurance.

But I have to think about the majority of Americans who are not veterans. Who is looking out for them? When they lose a job, they also lose health coverage. Sure, they can go to the county/state health department, but it's even worse than the VA and people wait for days just to get an appointment, for which they will wait for hours.

At the moment an American comedian is the only person holding our elected officials accountable for failing to even bring it to the floor for a vote. And we need this so we can find out who supports it, and who doesn't give a shit about us. But they dodge it every time it comes up. And the latest doubletalker is Cortez.

Have a look at Jimmy Dore's treatment of her!

[WritersPanic]

More comedy!

[Rev J]

Fuck Jimmy Dore! Here's my experience. About 10 years ago I had a skateboarding accident that left me with a Distal Radius fracture. At the time I was working 7 days a week as a care provider for the disabled the treatment was surgery and 2 plates and 5 screws that are there forever. On top of that was 9 months of recovery time that my primary client and I were able to develop work arounds for. At the time I was making $12.50 an hour. Berkley minimum wage at the time was $15.00 an hour and Oakland which is about 2 blocks south of me was $12.55 an hour.

I know with that statement of facts you are asking "How can someone make less than minimum wage?" I can explain it to you but it's kinda complicated:

There are 4 levels of minimum wage, National, State, County, and City:

So federally you can't pay workers under a certain amount, which at this time is $7.25 an hour. I'll guarantee your local burger flipper makes more than that and doesn't get a whole shitload of benefits which is another can of worms. Now from the national legislation perspective there are loopholes. If a worker works for more than 36 hours a week benefits are guaranteed. Big Business gets through this loophole by only giving part time workers a 35 hour a week cap. That way they don't have to give benefits. Granted the last time I talked to someone who was active military was about 20 years ago. They were paid a $2.5o an hour pay grade but were paid on a 24/7 scale wether they were on duty or not. It's amazing what you can learn by partying with someone within a mile of a military base. There's other ways to get around this by paying "Servers Wages" which figure tips into the overall pay structure. The other side of this is paying on commission. My first job in the SF Bay Area was working as a bike messenger. The higher the price of the transportation of the package the more the person delivering it gets. Yet again it can be used to deny workers rights. If they make below a certain amount of money they don't have to provide benefits. This is why you see a lot of messengers sporting ILWU logos. I'll almost guarantee you that the average messenger faces death on a daily basis more often than a soldier in a war zone with less safety equipment. Having retired from that profession due to injury it gives me a unique perspective.

So there's minimum wage on the national stage here it comes on the state level. I get paychecks from 2 government agencies one is WPCS (Waiver Personal Care Services) which is a state run program for disabled people to get providers. This program isn't union and is for recipients who require 24/7 care. The other one is IHSS (In Home Supportive Services) only IHSS is represented by by SEIU so when the state fucks up on my timesheet which happens about once a year almost on schedule since that is when the caseworker goes on vacation I'm SOOL. There is also a local provider service called Easy Does It which is an emergency organization which steps in when someones caregiver calls in sick. To put this into perspective caregivers under the current system are given 16 hours sick time a year. If a client tests positive for COVID we are given one pair of gloves and one mask. In order to get them it's about a 4 hour round trip off the clock. Does this make you feel safe? How about for your disabled loved ones? OK now for the wage argument I am only beholden to State Minimum Wage which at this time is $12.00 an hour. There are also hour caps from the perspective of the organizations at hand and the individual clients. My overtime is capped and if my client gets sick and requires more help than I probably will have to go off the clock to provide it. Guess who doesn't have the luxury to go on strike for better conditions? Also guess who doesn't get guaranteed health insurance.

Next is the county level past the state this goes on a county by county basis. Cost of living changes this rate from the macrocosm to the microcosm where I live the minimum wage is $13.50 an hour. At $14.80 I'm not doing much better. If you expect me to get medical and dental on that while buying groceries and paying rent (Granted I'm in a rent controlled apartment damned leftists) you are out of your fucking mind. This should be considered a basic human right, along with affordable housing. I guess that is just reactionary.

Then there is City Mandated Minimum Wage. In Berkeley, Ca. that is $15.59 an hour at $14.80 I'm still making less than minimum wage.

Going back to the original point. When I broke my wrist and had to get state funded medical support my girlfriend at the time who had a 6 figure income dealing in high asset divorces looked at me and said "It's a good thing we aren't married because we couldn't afford to handle this."

I'm not saying this to say "Boo Hoo, woe is me" but to put it into perspective. Dore et' al are putting it into very egocentric sociopathic terms that if you look beyond the surface don't hold any water.

C/S,
Rev J

[WritersPanic]

Fuck Jimmy Dore! Here's my experience. About 10 years ago I had a skateboarding accident that left me with a Distal Radius fracture. At the time I was working 7 days a week as a care provider for the disabled the treatment was surgery and 2 plates and 5 screws that are there forever. On top of that was 9 months of recovery time that my primary client and I were able to develop work arounds for. At the time I was making $12.50 an hour. Berkley minimum wage at the time was $15.00 an hour and Oakland which is about 2 blocks south of me was $12.55 an hour.

I know with that statement of facts you are asking "How can someone make less than minimum wage?" I can explain it to you but it's kinda complicated:

There are 4 levels of minimum wage, National, State, County, and City:

So federally you can't pay workers under a certain amount, which at this time is $7.25 an hour. I'll guarantee your local burger flipper makes more than that and doesn't get a whole shitload of benefits which is another can of worms. Now from the national legislation perspective there are loopholes. If a worker works for more than 36 hours a week benefits are guaranteed. Big Business gets through this loophole by only giving part time workers a 35 hour a week cap. That way they don't have to give benefits. Granted the last time I talked to someone who was active military was about 20 years ago. They were paid a $2.5o an hour pay grade but were paid on a 24/7 scale wether they were on duty or not. It's amazing what you can learn by partying with someone within a mile of a military base. There's other ways to get around this by paying "Servers Wages" which figure tips into the overall pay structure. The other side of this is paying on commission. My first job in the SF Bay Area was working as a bike messenger. The higher the price of the transportation of the package the more the person delivering it gets. Yet again it can be used to deny workers rights. If they make below a certain amount of money they don't have to provide benefits. This is why you see a lot of messengers sporting ILWU logos. I'll almost guarantee you that the average messenger faces death on a daily basis more often than a soldier in a war zone with less safety equipment. Having retired from that profession due to injury it gives me a unique perspective.

So there's minimum wage on the national stage here it comes on the state level. I get paychecks from 2 government agencies one is WPCS (Waiver Personal Care Services) which is a state run program for disabled people to get providers. This program isn't union and is for recipients who require 24/7 care. The other one is IHSS (In Home Supportive Services) only IHSS is represented by by SEIU so when the state fucks up on my timesheet which happens about once a year almost on schedule since that is when the caseworker goes on vacation I'm SOOL. There is also a local provider service called Easy Does It which is an emergency organization which steps in when someones caregiver calls in sick. To put this into perspective caregivers under the current system are given 16 hours sick time a year. If a client tests positive for COVID we are given one pair of gloves and one mask. In order to get them it's about a 4 hour round trip off the clock. Does this make you feel safe? How about for your disabled loved ones? OK now for the wage argument I am only beholden to State Minimum Wage which at this time is $12.00 an hour. There are also hour caps from the perspective of the organizations at hand and the individual clients. My overtime is capped and if my client gets sick and requires more help than I probably will have to go off the clock to provide it. Guess who doesn't have the luxury to go on strike for better conditions? Also guess who doesn't get guaranteed health insurance.

Next is the county level past the state this goes on a county by county basis. Cost of living changes this rate from the macrocosm to the microcosm where I live the minimum wage is $13.50 an hour. At $14.80 I'm not doing much better. If you expect me to get medical and dental on that while buying groceries and paying rent (Granted I'm in a rent controlled apartment damned leftists) you are out of your fucking mind. This should be considered a basic human right, along with affordable housing. I guess that is just reactionary.

Then there is City Mandated Minimum Wage. In Berkeley, Ca. that is $15.59 an hour at $14.80 I'm still making less than minimum wage.

Going back to the original point. When I broke my wrist and had to get state funded medical support my girlfriend at the time who had a 6 figure income dealing in high asset divorces looked at me and said "It's a good thing we aren't married because we couldn't afford to handle this."

I'm not saying this to say "Boo Hoo, woe is me" but to put it into perspective. Dore et' al are putting it into very egocentric sociopathic terms that if you look beyond the surface don't hold any water.

C/S,
Rev J

All I hear Jimmy talk about these days is Medicare for All. That's all this clip was about, he's pushing for a floor vote to expose everyone who is standing in the way of it. I can't remember the last time I heard him speak to the minimum wage. Which hasn't changed in like 11 years at the federal level. But then I remember when minimum wage workers were able to rent homes, buy cars and even go to college. When personal calculators came out I sat down with one and mapped out my whole future to retirement, on minimum wage (I was 14).

I think it's time for the US to live up to the lofty goals that only the wealthy seem to be able to access. Things like healthcare and decent wages shouldn't be alien concepts that are "just impossible" (if you listen to the politicians of the last 2 decades). Naturally I didn't think Trump would do anything about it, and he didn't. I don't see the democrats making any plans toward it either and they are about to take over.

But I suspect the democrats will spend at least the first 2 years whitewashing anything that might look like a Trump "accomplishment" and cancelling everyone who said anything nice about him. American politics has become a game of revenge, graft and petty posturing. Jimmy's just a pot-smoking comedian making fun of both sides. But mostly the democrats since they routinely step on their own dick (Even Ms. Cortez). It's all a tragic comedy in American now.

[Rev J]

I think that's my prejudice about Dore. I'll own up that my prejudice led me to skip the videos. That's a my bad. I was just stating my opinions and how I formed them.

C/S,
Rev J

[WritersPanic]

I think that's my prejudice about Dore. I'll own up that my prejudice led me to skip the videos. That's a my bad. I was just stating my opinions and how I formed them.

C/S,
Rev J

I forgot he's also pushing for another second tier political party. It's called the People's Party and seems to have most of the wish list items included.

Personally, I think the US has become too big to manage as it has been accomplished since the founding. A breakup means like-minded Americans can assemble in their own lands and communities. Really though, I thought that was what the Unites State was all about. The US should be 50 smaller countries linked by a common charter.

Instead we're a collection of colonies who can't change a road without approval from Washington. Instead of constructive state coalitions we have interstate competition. We may as well be old Europe.

[Rev J]

What frightens the powers that be about that is that if California seceded we would officially be the 5th largest economy in the world. Take away that tax base and the economists get scared.

C/S,
Rev J

[JoeKing]

Being a commercial fisherman means I've never had health insurance I didn't pay for myself. I just plain didn't pay for it when I was young, it pretty much worked out cuz I'm pretty healthy. One time I had a AC separation in my right shoulder I had to fork out almost 10 grand but that was it. I'm now paying quite a bit for very low coverage which really sucks. It would be nice if we told insurance companies to fuck off and started some sort of not for profit thing.

[Rev J]

I believe that we are the only developed country on earth that doesn't have it. Which is a sad state of affairs. When even the countries that have the most notoriously bad human rights abuses still give their citizens nationalized health care and the country that is allegedly one of the most powerful doesn't it's a pretty sad state of affairs.

C/S,
Rev J

[Dr. Doom]

Aside from the medical care I was able to get in the military and as a veteran, I don't have much exposure to "free" healthcare. Since I was usually employed, I paid for health insurance and got the same crappy policy as my coworkers.

If I wasn't married, I'd have no health insurance right now because I am no longer employed. So I would have to go back to the VA, wait in the long lines and pray they call me before the end of the day. If not, I'd have to return the next day and wait again. Since I'm a category C veteran (I was not injured and there wasn't a war happening) I'm at the back of the bus.

The people ahead of me are either veterans with service-connected disabilities (they are treated like gold) or the retired officers (I was enlisted, so I'll be at the back of the line for the rest of my life). Thankfully I get to ride on my wife's insurance.

But I have to think about the majority of Americans who are not veterans. Who is looking out for them? When they lose a job, they also lose health coverage. Sure, they can go to the county/state health department, but it's even worse than the VA and people wait for days just to get an appointment, for which they will wait for hours.

At the moment an American comedian is the only person holding our elected officials accountable for failing to even bring it to the floor for a vote. And we need this so we can find out who supports it, and who doesn't give a shit about us. But they dodge it every time it comes up. And the latest doubletalker is Cortez.

Have a look at Jimmy Dore's treatment of her!

I have to congratulate Jimmy for twice on every issue, driving home the obvious. We've been watching this shit all along.
Maybe if he yells enough, someone will listen? I doubt it.
Those people are not in office for we the people. They are there for we the people to line Their pockets, not our own pockets.
Fuck the citizens... It's all a shitshow. It's nothing new, this same shit has been going on for decades.
All AOC did was show that a bartender can do a politician's job. It's basically the same job, if you think about it.

[Rev J]

There is a logic for waiting though and hear me out.

Right now the Democrats have a narrow majority in Congress. There's a runoff happening in Georgia one 2 Senate seats. I'm not sure of the numbers on that but IQ45's lawyers Lin Wood and Sydney Powell have been screaming about rigged elections so loud and even telling Republicans to skip voting in said rigged election. That's not a particularly strong strategy. So if the Democrats pick up those 2 seats in January that means control of the Senate too. Add to that Biden being sworn in so we don't have Trump there who would probably veto it out of spite. If they wait a month it's more likely to pass.

Just a thought.

C/S,
Rev J

[JoeKing]

There is a logic for waiting though and hear me out.

Right now the Democrats have a narrow majority in Congress. There's a runoff happening in Georgia one 2 Senate seats. I'm not sure of the numbers on that but IQ45's lawyers Lin Wood and Sydney Powell have been screaming about rigged elections so loud and even telling Republicans to skip voting in said rigged election. That's not a particularly strong strategy. So if the Democrats pick up those 2 seats in January that means control of the Senate too. Add to that Biden being sworn in so we don't have Trump there who would probably veto it out of spite. If they wait a month it's more likely to pass.

Just a thought.

C/S,
Rev J

Except you didn't mention the insurance industry, they aren't going to let their cash cow go with out a fight.

[Rev J]

Except you didn't mention the insurance industry, they aren't going to let their cash cow go with out a fight.

Fair enough. Although those Colonial Penn "Medicare Advantage" Plans would probably still be fruitful. You have to figure that there will still be shit parts and holes to fill for medicare even if we get MFA.

C/S,
Rev J

[Din Djarin]

There is a logic for waiting though and hear me out.

Right now the Democrats have a narrow majority in Congress. There's a runoff happening in Georgia one 2 Senate seats. I'm not sure of the numbers on that but IQ45's lawyers Lin Wood and Sydney Powell have been screaming about rigged elections so loud and even telling Republicans to skip voting in said rigged election. That's not a particularly strong strategy. So if the Democrats pick up those 2 seats in January that means control of the Senate too. Add to that Biden being sworn in so we don't have Trump there who would probably veto it out of spite. If they wait a month it's more likely to pass.

Just a thought.

C/S,
Rev J

What are your thoughts on 'AOC', Rev? She's a typical politician mainly there for filling her own pockets?

[eggsprog]

AOC addressed this recently in an interview on the Intercepted podcast with Jeremy Scahill. Basically her argument, if I'm recalling it correctly, was that they don't have the votes to get it through the senate (and maybe not the house), and everyone knows that, so some Democrats who don't support it for whatever reason ($$$) could safely vote in favour knowing that it won't get passed, thus keeping both their constituents and donors happy without actually doing anything. That's off the top of my head, anyway. She was probably more articulate and nuanced.

It is criminal that you guys spend more per capita on healthcare than any other nation on the planet, yet you are less healthy than most (all?) other developed nations. Yes, I know that many of those who do receive care in the US receive some of the best medical care in the world, but I'm sure most countries would be the same if they just decided that a huge chunk of the population wasn't allowed to visit a hospital without spending the rest of their lives trying to pay for it.